Music

Canadian Music Week is running March 9 - 13, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel and Tiff Bell Lightbox and 55 venues throughout downtown Toronto.

Celebrating 29 years as one of the premier entertainment events in North America, Canadian Music Week packs in conferences, award shows, a trade exposition, film festival, and Canada's biggest new music festival.

It is a mini global village for artists and industry executives from around the world and all sectors of the business to engage in a free trade of ideas, learn about the state of their marketplace, cutting-edge technologies and trends, and build lasting relationships with tomorrow's leaders.

The Music Festival presents a lineup of 800 artists, some of which are:

An exclusive interview with Nikki Sixx -- rock legend, best-selling author, photographer, host of the syndicated radio show "Sixx Sense" and "The Side Show Countdown" -- at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto. Sixx will discuss his many ventures - including a new book and album, both titled This Is Gonna Hurt.

An exclusive interview with notorious Red Rocker Sammy Hagar is also held at the Fairmont.

Also present for a rare one-on-one is Melissa Etheridge, who recently released her tenth album. Sarah Mclachlan will receive the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award, in recognition of her longstanding commitment to charitable initiatives.

Ellen Seidler, co-producer/co-director of the hit lesbian romantic comedy And Then Came Lola, is a crusader against online piracy and its negative impact on indie filmmakers. Her film premiered in June 2009 and within hours of its worldwide release, unauthorized copies of the film began appearing on websites that specialize in pirated content.

A Spotlight on Southeast Asia as well as a country focus on France gives CMW delegates the opportunity to connect and network with market specialists and gain access to these vast global markets.

The Film Festival is being held at Tiff Bell Lightbox on March 11 and 12. The Who invade Canadian Music Week with rare theatrical screenings of Tommy and Quadrophenia back to back on Friday, March 11th. Both films will be screened from 35mm prints.

QuadropheniaDir. Franc Roddam (1979) With Phil Daniels, Mark Wingett, Sting (his first acting role)This classic film set in the 1960s (Mods and Rockers) follows angry young men on their motor scooters through nightly cruises to the music of The Who. TommyDir. Ken Russell (1975)The original 1975 film version of the classic rock opera about the deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard who becomes the target of a religious cult. With Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Elton John, Jack Nicholson, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, The Who.

Some other selections are:

Pickin’ and Grinnin’Dir. Jon Gries (Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite) - his directorial debutWith Johnny Dowers, David E. Lane, Nicole AndrewsFeaturing Kenny Loggins, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)The singing Johnson brothers have struggled to overcome failure, yet after years of work the best gig they got was singing corndog jingles at the roller derby. "They have just one last hope: The Nashville Sing-A-Ling contest. If they can win that, they’re on the road to the big time. And so the brothers pack up their vintage Winnebago and set off on a cross country odyssey praying that maybe, just maybe, the spirit of Kenny Loggins can help them out."

Go There Once, Be There TwiceDir. Gil BettmanFeaturing Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent, Toby KeithFormer Van Halen front man Sammy Hagar built a club when Cabo San Lucas was just a town of 6,000 people. Twenty years later, the Cabo Wabo has become an anchor of the now-thriving resort town, thanks to Hagar’s hard work and his annual birthday bash at the Cabo Wabo. Hagar will be present to introduce the screening.

Beyond The Black RainbowDir. Panos CosmatosStarring: Michael Rogers, Eva Allen, Scott HylandsOriginal score by Black Mountain keyboardist Jeremy SchmidtThe music video director "plunges the audience into a sort of sensory overload as he fuses elements of Reagan-era paranoia, social engineering run amok, and a drug fuelled step up the evolutionary ladder to create a hypnotic experience that plays out like a Tarkovsky style science fiction picture as filtered through the visual style of Logan’s Run." Jeremy Schmidt's original score is composed entirely on vintage analog synthesizers.

Cure For Pain: The Mark Sandman StoryDir. Rob Bralver, David FerinoFeaturing Morphine, Ben Harper, Josh Homme, Mike Watt, Les ClaypoolWith bassist-singer Mark Sandman, Morphine was regarded as one of the most unique and compelling bands in the exploding alternative rock scene. But when Sandman collapsed onstage in mid-performance at the Palestrina Festival and died, one of rock music’s most unique talents was gone without warning, at the peak of his career. This film is a tribute to the man and the art, including concert footage, archival interviews and new interviews with peers including Les Claypool, Mike Watt, Ben Harper and Josh Homme – whose Queens of the Stone Age had to play the next set at the festival following Sandman’s collapse. Director Bralver will attend to introduce the film and take questions.

Conferences

Award-winning composer Paul Williams, currently serving as President & Chairman of the Board, ASCAP - NY, heads the list of speakers at the following conferences:

Interactive Music & Media Summit brings together the top executives in music, broadcasting, film, multimedia, marketing, publishing, games, and technology to examine the transformation of the entertainment industries.

Radio Active 2011, featuring two and a half days of the finest Radio networking and education

TuneUp Music Careers Conference for artists, recording professionals, and industry newcomers looking to get a foot in the door, the

Songwriters’ Summit 2011 provides a networking environment and educational opportunity for all music makers, whether creative or business

For more information, visit www.cmw.net.AboutCanadian Music Week is Canada's leading annual entertainment event dedicated to the expression and growth of the country's music, media and entertainment industries. Combining four information-intensive conferences; a trade exposition; a film festival; four awards shows and the nation's largest New Music Festival - Canadian Music Fest - CMW spans a five-day period attracting participants from across the globe.

The premature death of Toru Takemitsu in 1996 robbed us of the most prominent Japanese composer, easily combining Eastern and Western sounds in his works: he was also one of the greatest movie composers of all time. Straddling the line between classicism and modernism, sometimes within the same work, Takemitsu’s music continues to be performed and recorded, proof of his brilliance and influence.This month brings his movie to the screen and concert music to the stage. Film Forum‘s retrospective Takemitsu presents 19 films that contain his expansive and eclectic scores, while Carnegie Hall’s Japan NYC Festival (which begins in December and continues in the spring) includes a trio of concerts (two on Carnegie stages) that feature his music.

Raised in the infamous North End, a section of Atlantic City blanketed with poverty and hopelessness, riddled with drugs and violence, young John Paxton saw up-close how quickly passion dies and dreams fade away. He saw it every day, everywhere in the North End. But John had two good parents and some good luck. At Rutgers University, then as a writer and a filmmaker, his dreams grew. Now Paxton has returned to Atlantic City with a huge dream.

"The arts are a way out," his soft dark eyes burn with intensity, "my dream is to make a film and music festival in my hometown. This is about community, about place. It's not about money and fame. It's about making a bridge out for the kids."

The inaugural Atlantic City International Film and Music Festival was held from Wednesday to Sunday (Sept 8-12, 2010) with venues in Bally's, Caesars, Harrahs, and Showboat Casinos.

Back in the ancient days of the 1980s, the CMJ Music Marathonwas a New York arts fest whose primary purpose was to get unsigned bands hooked up with the major record labels. Over the years, even before the internet co-opted a great deal of the recording industry, the major labels seemed to lose interest in this fest as a farm-league styled source for new talent.

For CMJ's 30th anniversary (October 19 to 23, 2010), these majors -- Columbia, Atlantic and Warner Brothers among others -- were hardly a blip on anyone’s mind at the New York University (at the NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South) and other downtown venues.There were panels, mixers, workshops etc. One panel was titled Major Label Dilemma: Get In or Get Out of the Way which certainly reflected the dilemma of this year's event.